Professor Lisa Askie (PHD, MPD, FAHMS, FHEA) joined the WHO at Geneva Headquarters in Sept 2020 as Scientist and Methods Lead within the Quality Norms and Standards Dept, Science Division. Her role is to support WHO to adopt and innovate best practice methods and standards, thereby ensuring the evidence underpinning its global guidance is rigorous and timely.

Prior to her WHO appointment Lisa led a large team at the National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Australia, which managed the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, undertook Health Technology Assessments for the Australian Federal Government, hosted two Cochrane Collaboration entities (Breast Cancer Review Group, Prospective Meta-analysis Methods Group) and oversaw an extensive medical test evaluation research program. 

Lisa’s clinical background is in perinatology and she has worked as a neonatal nurse and midwife in healthcare systems in Asia, Australia, UK and USA. She has Masters and Doctoral qualifications in epidemiology from Sydney Medical School, is an Honorary Senior Principal Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and has held an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship, a Sidney Sax Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Career Development Fellowship and a Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP) Fellowship. 

Professor Askie has a long standing interest in the conduct and methodology of clinical trials, systematic reviews and other forms of evidence synthesis, especially with regard to increasing research transparency and reducing research waste. She has been involved with the Cochrane Collaboration since 1996 as a systematic review author, trainer and editor. Lisa is the co-convenor of the Cochrane Prospective Meta-analysis Methods Group and undertook her postdoctoral fellowship at the UK Cochrane Centre in Oxford.

Lisa has led some of the most important practice-changing research projects in perinatology over the past 20 years. Her work has elucidated the optimal oxygen targets and cord management strategies at birth for preterm infants, the best prevention therapies for women at risk of pre-eclampsia, as well as whether new ventilation technologies are any more effective than conventional ones. She has led many large international collaborations of clinical trial investigators, who share their data to undertake individual participant data and prospective meta-analyses.

Professor Askie has published over 100 scientific papers, has been a member of various academic advisory boards and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) and the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).